Beautiful, Shoyo!
Miya Atsumu lowered his center of gravity to prepare for the bump.
Actually, the height Hinata gave this ball was sufficient; the main reason he chose to lower his center of gravity to set the ball was.. Hinata, who had just made the save, needed time to prepare for his attack again.
Shiratori naturally also sensed Miya Atsumu's intention, after inwardly marveling at the extent to which Miya Atsumu accommodated the spiker, he moved toward the center along with Fukasawa without leaving a trace.
When Hinata was in this position, he mostly played high balls to the center, after all, the Ace was still on the other side.
Just as Shiratori expected, Hinata stood up and charged toward this side, taking his approach to prepare for a jump.
Seeing Hinata act exactly as he had anticipated, Shiratori's expression remained calm.
—Just as expected.
But just as Hinata reached Position 3, he didn't stop, but instead took a large step toward Position 4.
At the same time, a darker shadow took two large steps from Position 4, after completing a cross with Hinata, leaped into the air at the center with a thud.
The ball slipped from Miya Atsumu's hands.
Shiratori's pupils contracted, he subconsciously moved a step toward the right side of Inarizaki following the direction of the volleyball, nearly colliding with Kazama Junichi, who was chasing Aran toward the center.
Fortunately, Kazama Junichi reacted quickly enough, stepping forward to lunge toward Hinata's position.
Hinata's approach wasn't a conventional three-step run, but four.
What's even more bizarre is.. the Ace actually gave up the spike from Position 4 and chose to play a supporting role in the center?!
The fact that they were ultimately half a step too late meant they couldn't completely block Hinata, leaving him space to spike a line shot.
Matsuda sprinted from the back row, reaching out his arms in an attempt to receive the ball the moment Hinata spiked it.
But.. that's not right.
The moment the volleyball flew past Shiratori's peripheral vision, his pupils contracted sharply.
This wasn't a pure line shot; Hinata's contact point was toward the upper right, so if it were received normally, it would bounce toward the back right after hitting the arms.
A loud thud rang in Shiratori's ears, by the time he turned around, the volleyball had already flown away.
Coach Unabara, standing by the sidelines, nodded. "Inarizaki's tactical playstyle.. could be described as truly unique."
As things stood, he couldn't see any fixed roles within Inarizaki; even the title of "Ace" seemed to rotate among the various players.
Aran isn't the only one capable of breaking the deadlock; Hinata, Suna, even Miya Osamu from the previous set can all step up when necessary.
And Miya Atsumu is the core who can flexibly utilize everyone, changing the conventional left and right playstyles to make them no longer conventional.
As expected of High School's Best Setter, this ability would rank among the best even in a professional team.
Fukui's head was full of question marks at this moment.
In the end, why are they playing such a cross-pattern! The normal choice would be to have Aran play in Position 4!
Watching the obvious look of shock on everyone's faces across the net, Miya Atsumu let out two low laughs.
Making the Ace Spiker give up Position 4 and everything..
How willful, how bold.
Normally, no team would ever voluntarily abandon a strong attack from the Ace in Position 4.
Unfortunately, Inarizaki has never been a team that sticks to old, rigid traditions.
—You have to dare to take the challenge.
Hinata looked at Kazama Junichi, who was looking at him, exhaled slowly. "I said it."
Said what?
Kazama's mind went blank, he couldn't snap out of it for a long time.
Just now, Hinata didn't just bypass the block with a line shot; the ball was actually above his block, it just didn't exceed Shiratori-senpai's reach.
The last person who could put this much pressure on him.. was Kiryu-senpai from Shirabu.
A strong sensation of being watched washed over him, Kazama's stiff neck twisted bit by bit until his eyes met Miya Atsumu's eyes, which were cast in shadow as he looked down.
—Like a ghost.
Dormant memories suddenly rushed back, he suddenly remembered that Hinata had indeed spoken to him before this.
It's okay, I can definitely jump higher than you!
That wasn't just a joke; that little guy, who was a full head shorter than him, actually did it.
Pressing his lips together, Kazama suddenly felt his mouth was a bit dry.
Such a tiny person, yet he is touching the starry sky..
To be honest, it moved him a little.
It makes one want to burst into tears.
Kazama opened his mouth, just when Shiratori thought he was finally going to say something nice, he suddenly spoke: "Like a little flea, chirping and chirping.. it's infuriating."
Shiratori's smile froze completely.
He looked at the junior beside him, whose expression was slightly distorted, his eyes filled with a part confusion, two parts resistance, three parts shock, four parts terror.
He thought Kazama probably wanted to praise Hinata, but why did it come out as trash talk?
Seeing Hinata subtly take half a step back toward Miya Atsumu, Shirabu quickly spoke up to fix the situation: "He doesn't know how to talk, what he meant was that you played very well."
Fukada turned around abruptly.
The opponent across the net should be the one acting strange right now! He's using trash talk to make that little shrimp shut down!
Miya Atsumu stood with his hands on his hips, retorting mercilessly, "You're the one who chatters all day like a big fly."
Hinata agreed, "Exactly, exactly! Big fly!"
Aran looked at Kazama several times, resisting the urge to make a remark.
This guy's eye and clothing color scheme is just like a fly!
Watching Kazama Junichi, unable to find words, Shiratori raised a hand and gave Miya Atsumu a thumbs-up.
—This guy is..
But the focus right now should be.. Hinata actually being able to hit a spinning ball with a bit of side-spin?
That's incredible.
Hinata, who turned his head to speak to Miya Atsumu, had no idea what his opponent was thinking; instead, he raised his hand to confirm the topspin shot to the lower left with Miya Atsumu.
His spin serves were indeed unskilled; the reason he performed well on that last ball was mainly because..
I'll remember that, after being hit by Sakusa so many times yesterday.
After the sixteen-second time-out, Coach Kurosu substituted Kita Shinsuke into the game during Hinata Shoyo's service rotation, as originally planned.
"Come here, let me take another look at your nose." Coach Kurosu called Hinata over to his side and signaled for him to tilt his head back.
After confirming there was no further bleeding, Coach Omimi handed him a towel.
Standing beside Hinata, Coach Kurosu asked with a smile, "How are you feeling? About today's match?"
His wiping motion paused slightly, Hinata poked his head out from behind the towel: "I don't know why, but I feel a lot more relaxed."
Under the watchful eyes of the two coaches, Hinata's eyes lit up after thinking hard for a moment. "Ah, I get it! It should be.. um.. not having to receive the serve?"
Watching Hinata struggle to find the right words, Coach Kurosu couldn't help but chuckle. "Just remember this feeling; play the same way in the next set."
The pressure from Fukuda General's blocking was actually no less than what they faced from their opponents in the previous set; the reason Hinata felt it was easier was essentially because there were fewer things to consider when playing as an Opposite.
When playing a right-wing spiker, one has to deal with three things simultaneously: blocking, receiving, attacking. For Hinata, whose fundamentals are still quite weak, it always feels a bit frantic.
Moreover, Hinata wouldn't be facing Shimizu for long, Suna's changing ball trajectories worked quite well against Shimizu's empirical blocking.
Hinata nodded. "Yeah, I haven't tried that yet."
Before the match began, he had been constantly thinking about trying out the new things he'd discovered in the previous two matches, but unfortunately, he hadn't had much opportunity.
When Atsumu-senpai comes back, I definitely have to tell him that the opposing Libero is the perfect practice partner!
Matsuda sneezed suddenly on the court, startling Kazama Junichi, who hurriedly stepped back two steps. "You didn't catch a cold, did you!"
Don't talk nonsense, someone must be badmouthing me behind my back," Matsuda paused, then looked at Kazama Junichi. "Was it you?!
He was just a little clumsy while receiving the ball, but was that really enough reason to talk trash about him behind his back!
If he's so capable, he should do it himself. It was clearly a defensive task for both of them, so why was he the only one being left to scramble all over the court..
Kazama's eyes widened. "What nonsense are you talking! Why would I need to badmouth you behind your back?"
If he was going to curse someone out, he would say it to their face; he had no interest in talking behind someone's back.
Matsuda raised an eyebrow. "You're quite proud of yourself, aren't you?"
Fine, he admitted Kazama had a point.
Coach Tsurumaru, standing by the sidelines, raised a hand to his mouth. "You two, stop staring each other down. If you miss another receive, you're doing five hundred diving drills when you get back—"
The two of them instantly stood at attention, not daring to even breathe.
This devil will definitely follow through on his word; five hundred laps.. it's definitely going to be painful!
Aran shouted, "Shinsuke, give us a good serve!"
Kita Shinsuke glanced at Hinata and the Coach who were talking on the Coach's bench, before shifting his gaze back to the two people in the opponent's back row.
To use a formation with two Middle Blockers for receiving serves at a time like this requires quite a lot of courage.
Second-year players rarely excel at receiving serves, handling float serves with the forearms requires a significant amount of experience.
Not every second-year player is Hoshiumi Hikari, Fukuda General's training model basically doesn't take shape until the third year. As long as we play steadily.. it shouldn't be a big problem.
Having made his decision, Shinsuke Kita waited until he had counted to eight in his head before tossing the ball up.
Coach Kurosu, on the sidelines, tilted his head to watch Kita Shinsuke's serving motion, then glanced at Hinata, who was drinking water.
Timing the serve is a fairly common tactic, everyone at Inarizaki knows how to do it.
But because of differences in personality or the mental state brought about by varying levels of experience, the time everyone counts in their heads is different.
Someone like Hinata would count to ten in his head before tossing the ball, whereas Oori and the others would be finished by about five.